Train operating company CrossCountry has embarked on a sponsorship deal with ITV’s new three-part travel series Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip.

Planned and negotiated by Omnicom Media Group’s PHD Manchester and content agency Drum, the sponsorship includes a series of TV idents to inspire viewers to travel on CrossCountry. The sponsorship idents include three friends travelling together on a day out to York, Edinburgh and Oxford.

Catherine Terry, head of marketing for CrossCountry, said: “We are excited to be the sponsors of ITV’s Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip and knew that it was something we wanted to be a part of as soon as we heard about the programme. We know our customers like to visit new destinations and iconic attractions in Britain, making the travel element of the programme a perfect fit for us. We hope that it continues to inspire people to travel with CrossCountry to connect them to more.”

Featuring Gordon Ramsay, Gino D’Acampo and Fred Sirieix, the new show launches on the back of the trio’s successful Christmas special. In this series, each participant showcases their home country on a culinary road trip across Italy, France and Scotland.

“Customers are embracing unique and unusual travel experiences to rediscover familiar destinations or differentiate trips to popular locations and our approach allows CrossCountry to directly tap into this audience,’ said Mark Worth, account director at PHD Manchester.

A total of three TV idents have been created in 5, 10 and 15-second versions by integrated agency, McCann Manchester. Episode one of ITV’s Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip launches tonight at 9pm, with two additional episodes airing on 18 and 25 October.